ONE LIFE
by sailorpsychosis
Summary: A young man's (not who you think it is) ordinary world is forever changed by a fateful meeting with a girl from out of this world. Set before the FLCL storyline. Not AU...


Author's [unnecessarily long] note:   
Yay! My first real fanfiction! This idea has been in my head for probably a year now (hopefully this idea hasn't gotten cliché by now, but I guess it's my fault for not writing it down back then), but I never had the motivation to actually sit down and write it. It may seem like other FLCL fics out there at first (I can't really say, since I haven't read very many myself ^^;), but hopefully the eventual plot will be original and (pleasantly?) surprising.   
Anyway, feel free to let me know what you think of it (and if you don't like it, please leave constructive suggestions on how I can improve the story). You may email me, or reviews are also nice to tell me how I'm doing (but I'm not demanding them as ransom for the rest of the story).   
Sooooo, without further ado, here's my first real shot at fanfiction! Hope you enjoy it!  


_Oh yeah, do we really have to put a disclaimer on here? Can't I skip it? I mean, it seems kinda...   
*sigh* FLCLandalllikenessesarecreationsofGainax...sothere....._

_And regarding ff.net's list of conducts, point number five: "Use proper textual formatting. For example: using only capital letters in the story title, summary, or content is not only incorrect but also a disregard for the language itself"... well, the title is all caps on purpose, because it is named for the song "ONE LIFE" by The Pillows, which was one of the BGM songs from FLCL, and one of my favorite songs by the group (which is great to listen to if you have it, while reading the first part of the chapter, since it's the BGM I would have in mind, if fanfics can have BGM ^_^)... so... yeah, the song title is written in all caps._

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**ONE LIFE**

It all started on an ordinary, ordinary day. An ordinary day beneath a midday sun. The blue of the sky mirrored the blue hue of the poppies growing on a small hill in a remote field on the outskirts of town. The petals were swaying slightly, even though there was no breeze.  
Again the young man sighed heavily, and the poppies swayed some more. He rolled over on his back, lying there with his hands knit behind his head, watching thin, streaky clouds drift across the sky. His eyelids were getting heavy when he thought he saw something fly in and out of his line of vision. He opened his eyes all the way to get a better look, but saw nothing there. _'Pro'ly just my imagination,'_ he thought as he closed his eyes and dozed off.

He awoke nearly an hour later to find the blanket of warm sunlight had been replaced with a cool breeze, and something was tickling his face. It was time to get up. He flicked an offending bug off his cheek, got up from his spot in the grass, brushed himself off, and started walking back towards home. At the edge of the field stood his favorite vending machine— one of the main reasons he ever came to that spot in the first place. He inserted 80 yen, and was about to press the button for a Milo, his favorite drink, when another hand slipped beneath his own, quickly punching the button for a UCC Black Coffee. "Thought you might like to try a more grown-up drink." 'Clang!'   
"What the hell!!" he growled, whirling around to come face-to-neck with a very tall, very thin, very striking young woman. She was clad from head to toe in black leather, save for the thigh-length Issey Miyake knit sweater and the yellow and black striped leg warmers she wore on top of her jumpsuit. Her lips curled into a mischievous smirk as she noticed him gawking at her. He blushed slightly at being caught staring, but quickly snapped back to being peeved. "Why'd you do that?!"  
"Oh, you mean the drink? I just thought I'd help you out, save you the humiliation of getting that drink that's made for kids in front of a pretty girl," she said, winking playfully at him. "Ha. Ha. Very funny. Like I care what you think! Now give me back my 80 yen so I can drink my usual!" "I don't have any money," she said simply, looking down at him from the corner of her eyes. "Besides, it's good to try something new — keeps life from getting too boring."   
By now, the boy was absolutely fuming with anger. He glared at her, fists clenched tightly by his sides, grinding his teeth and making a noise rather like a growl. "But I hate black coffee!!" "Hmmm, I see. You don't like it 'cause it's too bitter, huuuh? Well, give it a try. You'll learn to like the manly drinks after a while." "If it's so great, then **why don't you have it!!!**" he yelled, picking up the can as if to chuck it right at her. She didn't even flinch, but continued to stare straight at his face. He froze, slowly lowering his arms and softly dropping the can beside his feet.   
"I didn't think you were the type," she said with a slight grin, positioning her goggles as she sat down on what must have been her moped. She revved it up and took off, leaving him alone in a cloud of dust. 

He stood there for a moment, perplexed. "Stupid girl," he muttered, trudging back to the vending machine. He glanced at the can of coffee that lay at where it rolled, then growled in disgust as he put another 80 yen in the machine (but not before glancing over his shoulder first, just to make sure). 'Clang!' Out came his favorite drink. _'That's more like it,'_ he thought, grabbing the can and heading back towards home. 

He popped the top and savored the chocolate malty taste as he came into town. A car stopped at a light had a bumper sticker that read _Let's get tomorrow_. "Geez, I see those everywhere," he mumbled. The new Z Gundam models could be seen from a shop window, but he wasn't interested in robots like other kids his age. "Mecha robots again? I think a person piloting a giant robot is just stupid! I still say mecha is going out," he said, still talking to himself. He passed the curry restaurant (_'I hate that place. Too spicy.'_), another vending machine (_'It doesn't have Milo, or even Ramune.'_), the "Adult Project" video store (he averted his eyes to some other store across the street), a noodle shop, and finally arrived at his house above the little market his family owned.   


"I'm home," he called out to no one in particular. Nobody answered. _'Guess he's working the store.'_ He shuffled down the stairs into the store. He found his great-uncle behind the counter, who appeared to be speaking with someone though he couldn't see through his uncle. He started back up the stairs, not wanting to interrupt business, when his uncle called out to him, "Ah! There you are, Ao! Come meet my new assistant manager," the older man stepped aside, motioning to the lanky young woman in a grocer's apron beside him. Ao dropped the rest of his can of Milo when he saw just who his uncle's new employee was. "Oh, I believe we've already met," the young woman smiled...  


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_A/N: _Hope this first part wasn't too boring— I'm not the best at expositions. The actual plot will start next chapter, I promise. ^^;   



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